Sunderland are back in action on Wednesday night, with another home game and a chance to redeem themselves after the draw against Watford at the weekend.
Picking up a point against a team challenging for a play-off spot is not exactly the worst result for Sunderland, but Black Cats fans have now come to expect more from their team this season.
That is especially true at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland remain unbeaten all season in home games. But, that record will come under threat on Wednesday night with the visit of Luton Town to Wearside.
While Regis Le Bris’ men would be firmly expected to win comfortably against a team in the bottom three, we’ve already seen them come unstuck against struggling opponents of late.
Luton like to attack, and Sunderland’s unbeaten record could be undone
Speaking to James Copley on The Roar podcast, Luton Town expert Mike Simmonds offered his thoughts on the Hatters ahead of the upcoming fixture, and outlined the ways Matt Bloomfield’s side could harm the Black Cats.
He said: “Matt Bloomfield is a very attacking manager, Wycombe were the top scorers in League One under him… They’ve had a long time off, ten days it will be by the time they play Sunderland.
“You could see it slightly in the Sheffield Wednesday game the ideas he wants to bring. They looked more solid there. If the new signings can gel, and the ideas get across, if he can get what he wants, there will be goals in this team.”
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On what to expect from the game, Simmonds added: “Luton will want to be solid. If you offered a point they’d take it. But Bloomfield wants to win games, he will definitely set up to win this. It will be an interesting battle.
“The odds are very much on Sunderland’s side, but Luton haven’t won away from home this season, and Sunderland haven’t lost at home, so you never know. I think the fact Sunderland haven’t had that defeat yet, it’s one of those that you think might happen.
“Personally, I’d be very surprised if Luton did go there and win. I think we’d be very happy with a draw to keep this little run going. But you can’t look past a home win on this occasion. They do have attacking threats, they’ll have worked on that over the last ten days. Matt said he was happy to have that break. If they can score… it’s just about keeping clean sheets away from home.”
Sunderland cannot afford to drop points again
After drawing their last two home games 2-2, Sunderland are pretty fortunate to only be two points off third placed Burnley in the Championship table, but that gap with Sheffield United in second place is getting bigger.
While Sunderland look very comfortable in the top four, with a 12-point gap over fifth-placed West Brom, they will not want to lose pace in the race for automatic promotion. In that respect, this Luton game is a bit of a must-win, really.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 31 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 62 | 19 | 43 | 66 |
| 2 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 31 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 43 | 22 | 21 | 64 |
| 3 |  BurnleyBurnley | 31 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 37 | 9 | 28 | 61 |
| 4 | SunderlandSunderland | 31 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 47 | 28 | 19 | 59 |
| 5 |  West BromWest Brom | 31 | 11 | 14 | 6 | 41 | 28 | 13 | 47 |
| 6 |  BlackburnBlackburn | 31 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 35 | 31 | 4 | 45 |
Let’s say Sunderland were to slip away from the battle for second place. That would leave them in a bit of a state of limbo in the play-off places, and that could seriously harm momentum going into the business end of the season.
The Black Cats need to get back to winning ways at home, put together a strong run, and keep up that pressure at the top of the table. They cannot afford for Luton to be another banana skin on their path to promotion.
Their promotion rivals certainly wouldn’t come unstuck in this kind of fixture, and Sunderland have to match that relentless, ruthless energy.